Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A person, animal, or plant that is ~ is no longer living.
Her husband’s been ~ a year now...
The group had shot ~ another hostage.
...old newspapers and ~ flowers.
? alive
ADJ
•
The ~ are people who are ~.
The ~ included six people attending a religious ceremony.
N-PLURAL: the N
2.
If you describe a place or a period of time as ~, you do not like it because there is very little activity taking place in it.
...some ~ little town where the liveliest thing is the flies...
ADJ disapproval
3.
Something that is ~ is no longer being used or is finished.
The ~ cigarette was still between his fingers...
ADJ
4.
If you say that an idea, plan, or subject is ~, you mean that people are no longer interested in it or willing to develop it any further.
It’s a ~ issue, Baxter...
ADJ
5.
A ~ language is no longer spoken or written as a means of communication, although it may still be studied.
We used to grumble that we were wasting time learning a ~ language.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
6.
A telephone or piece of electrical equipment that is ~ is no longer functioning, for example because it no longer has any electrical power.
On another occasion I answered the phone and the line went ~.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ
7.
In sport, when a ball is ~, it has gone outside the playing area, or a situation has occurred in which the game has to be temporarily stopped, and none of the players can score points or gain an advantage. (JOURNALISM)
ADJ
8.
Dead is used to mean ‘complete’ or ‘absolute’, especially before the words ‘centre’, ‘silence’, and ‘stop’.
They hurried about in ~ silence, with anxious faces...
Lila’s boat came to a ~ stop.
ADJ: ADJ n emphasis
9.
Dead means ‘precisely’ or ‘exactly’.
Mars was visible, ~ in the centre of the telescope...
Their arrows are ~ on target...
ADV: ADV prep/adv/adj emphasis
10.
Dead is sometimes used to mean ‘very’. (BRIT INFORMAL, SPOKEN)
I am ~ against the legalisation of drugs.
ADV: ADV adj/adv/prep emphasis
11.
If you reply ‘Over my ~ body’ when a plan or action has been suggested, you are emphasizing that you dislike it, and will do everything you can to prevent it. (INFORMAL)
‘Let’s invite her to dinner.’—‘Over my ~ body!’
CONVENTION emphasis
12.
If you say that something such as an idea or situation is ~ and buried, you are emphasizing that you think that it is completely finished or past, and cannot happen or exist again in the future.
I thought the whole business was ~ and buried...
PHRASE: v-link PHR emphasis
13.
If you say that a person or animal dropped ~ or dropped down ~, you mean that they died very suddenly and unexpectedly.
He dropped ~ on the quayside.
PHRASE: V inflects
14.
If you say that you feel ~ or are half ~, you mean that you feel very tired or ill and very weak. (INFORMAL)
You looked half ~ after that journey...
PHRASE: v-link PHR emphasis
15.
If something happens in the ~ of night, at ~ of night, or in the ~ of winter, it happens in the middle part of the night or the winter, when it is darkest or coldest. (LITERARY)
We buried it in the garden at ~ of night...
PHRASE
16.
If you say that you wouldn’t be seen ~ or be caught ~ in particular clothes, places, or situations, you are expressing strong dislike or disapproval of them. (INFORMAL)
I wouldn’t be seen ~ in a straw hat.
PHRASE: PHR prep, PHR -ing emphasis
17.
To stop ~ means to suddenly stop happening or moving. To stop someone or something ~ means to cause them to suddenly stop happening or moving.
We all stopped ~ and looked at it...
PHRASE: V inflects
18.
If you say that someone or something is ~ in the water, you are emphasizing that they have failed, and that there is little hope of them being successful in the future.
A ‘no’ vote would have left the treaty ~ in the water.
PHRASE: v-link PHR emphasis
19.
to flog a ~ horse: see flog
a ~ loss: see loss
a ~ ringer: see ringer
to stop ~ in your tracks: see track